Thursday, August 22, 2013Monoprice Acquisition By Blucora CompletesThe acquisition of Rancho Cucamonga-based Monoprice, a developer of its own line of branded consumer electronics and accessories, has completed, Blucora announced Thursday afternoon, in a deal that had been announced earlier this month. The deal was worth $180M in cash. According to Blucora, it expects Monoprice to deliver revenues in the range of $36.5 million to $37.5 million in the third quarter of 2013. Blucora said it will continue operations in Rancho Cucamonga, as a new standalone busines (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 22, 2013(Full story)
ShoeDazzle Acquisition By JustFab? Not So DazzlingThat acquisition by JustFab of fellow fashion startup ShoeDazzle yesterday? Not so dazzling. The acquisition valued ShoeDazzle at only around $30M, a huge drop in the company's value, compared with a $240M valuation back in 2011, according to Dow Jones. The report--quoting early ShoeDazzle investor Jeremy Liew, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners--also said that only one investor--Crosscut Ventures--actually saw any return from the acquisition. Crosscut, which is headed by Brian Garrett, al (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 22, 2013(Full story)
Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock Debuts On HuluAre you (or your kids) a fan of Fraggle Rock, the series from Jim Henson? Los Angeles-based Hulu has added a big new library of family friendly entertainment to its Hulu Kids section today, with a deal with Jim Henson Family to show Fraggle Rock and ten other related series. Hulu said the series will be available commercial-free on Hulu Plus, with consecutive, episodes of each show showing up on the ad-supported version of Hulu on a rolling basis. The deal includes 96 episodes of Fraggle Rock, p (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 22, 2013(Full story)
SweetLabs Gets OEM Install Deal With LenovoSan Diego-based SweetLabs, the developer of the Pokki desktop app environment, has scored an OEM distribution deal with Lenovo, the company announced this morning. SweetLabs said its Pokki software will be preloaded on new Lenovo PCs shipped worldwide, starting with Lenovo's line of consumer devices. Financial impact of the deal were not disclosed. SweetLabs' Pokki gives personal computers a similar, app store and app environment as consumers have gotten used to with smartphones in recent years. (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 22, 2013(Full story)
JumpStartFund Takes On Crowdfunding, Advice For Research StartupsA new, Los Angeles area startup launched this morning, hoping to use the power of the crowd to help take ideas to launch. JumpStartFund, which is based in El Segundo, opened up its service this morning to help use the wisdom of the crowd to move ideas, patents, and research from individuals, federal research labs, universities, and research organizations to the market. The startup--headed by Dirk Ahlborn--has created a system which lets the crowd provide feedback, ideas, and even crowdfunding to (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 22, 2013(Full story)
Qualcomm Acquires Orb NetworksSan Diego-based Qualcomm has acquired Orb Networks, a developer of media streaming hardware for a range of mobile devices. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Orb said in a post on its site that its technology had been acquired by "one of the large strategic partners" it has been working with. Orb did not name the buyer, however, a report from GigaOm has identified Qualcomm as the buyer, and says the acquisition actually came in May.
posted on Thursday, August 22, 2013(Full story)
Boingo Links With Canadian Wi-Fi Provider On Ad SalesLos Angeles-based Wi-Fi network operator Boingo Wireless has inked a deal with a Canadian Wi-Fi network provider, to manage a Wi-Fi advertising network in Canada. Boingo reported it has a new agreement with Canadian Wi-Fi operator BOLDstreet Wireless, to manage that firm's display and video advertising sales and services. BOLDstreet provides Wi-Fi networks at airports and malls throughout Canada, reaching a potential audience of more than 150 million consumers. Financial details of the ad deal w (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 22, 2013(Full story)
RealD Wins Expansion In ChinaLos Angeles-based 3D movie projection technology provider RealD announced an expanded agreement with a Chinese company today, to install an additional 50 screens across Northern China. RealD said it has reached an agreement with UME International Cineplex, one of its existing customers, to add an additional 50 cinema screens. UME International already has 50, RealD screens installed. Financial details of the win were not announced. RealD provides 3D movie projection technology for movie theaters (More info...)
posted on Thursday, August 22, 2013(Full story)
Kofax Signs $2M Deal With European BankIrvine-based image capture software provider Kofax reported a big customer win this morning, worth $2.3M, with a European bank. Kofax--whose software is used for scanning and archiving paper documents--did not name the bank, but says its applications will be used to process more than 350 million documents per year. Kofax said the company's software will be used for processing forms, documents, trailing documents, and checks.
posted on Thursday, August 22, 2013(Full story)